Tuesday’s home match with Reading came with mixed feelings for Grant Ward.
The midfielder made his first start for Bristol Rovers since early January in the Sky Bet League One fixture, but it was a game in which the Gas ultimately suffered a 2-0 defeat.
The visitors found the net twice in the first half, through Sam Smith and Lewis Wing, giving the home side a mountain to climb in the second half. While substitutes Scott Sinclair and Brandon Aguilera went close - both seeing efforts cleared off the line - the midweek outing ended in defeat for Matt Taylor’s side.
“It’s good to have my first start for a while for the Club, but it obviously wasn’t a great result for us,” Ward said. “ It was a tough game. It was a real fight. We conceded an easy goal and it deflated us a bit.
“The first half, we found it tough to press them and keep up with their tempo. It set the tempo for our game. Then the second goal really summed us up at the minute. It wasn’t a good one to concede.
“We changed things at half-time and that helped us. I think we started the second half well and created a few chances. Scotty had one cleared off the line and Brandon went close too, and if one of them goes in then it could end up a different game.”
While recent results have been frustrating for the players, coaching staff and fans, Ward insists the team are working hard to put things right, score goals and ultimately get points on the board.
With four games left to play this season, the midfielder is eager to end the campaign in the best possible form.
“We need to do better,” he added. “I think we were better in the second half but, at that point, they had two goals and were dropping off a bit. It ended up being one of those evenings for us.
“We’re trying to find our formula at the minute, our best team and our style. We need to keep training and keep working at it. We’ve got a lot of good players and we need to just find how everyone fits in.”
